Sermon on the Mount: The Blessed - Part 2

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church, 635 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Please join us today as Pastor Jeffrey Campbell leads us in an in depth study of the Sermon on the Mount. Today's scripture is from Matthew chapter 5. [00:00:13] Speaker B: As we open our Bible together to Matthew chapter 5, we continue on in this study, but we look at just a real quick reminder, the blessed. That word can be translated in some translations as happiness or blessedness. It is a deep joy that is rooted within, not without. Does that make sense? So the blessing doesn't come from without, from around you. The blessing comes from within you because Jesus lives in you. And those criteria of the blessed, of those who are blessed by God or happy in God, these are the kind of people, these are characteristic traits that, that we should display each and every day. And so we think about that true happiness that comes from God, that comes from within, that comes from God's grace and favor on our life, that comes from being in line with God's will. That's where the blessed life is lived. And so with that, Jesus expounds a little bit. And we're going to see the last four of the eight Beatitudes tonight. So verse number seven, if you have your Bibles, let's do that together tonight in chapter number five of Matthew. And I'm going to read verse number seven. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. That seems very straightforward, doesn't it? Tonight you'll get four points from each of the Beatitudes. And the first point is this. Merciful living. Merciful living. What does that look like? And how can we be those that display mercy? Have you ever played the game of mercy? You ever played that game, anybody? When I was a kid, I would take. I got a twin brother, right? And so we would take our hands, we would open them up, we would lock our hands and we would go to seeing who could bend and break and hurt the other one, right? And then we cry out mercy there, right? Whoever was in trouble, if you got your hands bent backwards, we cry out for mercy. Now let me ask you this. That's a game that we play as kids. I can't play it now because my fingers will probably break. Okay, but when's the last time that we cried out for mercy from God but also displayed that? So this Beatitude in verse number seven, blessed are the merciful, for they shall attain mercy. We are challenged to show mercy. Not necessary. Just remember God's mercy is not getting what we deserve. God withholds that and so we're grateful for God's mercy. But mercy is also seen in the life of Jesus. Remember this what Paul writes to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 2, 4. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us. And so it is through mercy that we understand the love of God, but also that through mercy, you and I demonstrate God's love. So not only are we reminded that we receive mercy, but then we are called to display mercy. And how do we do that? How do we demonstrate God's love? Through mercy to other people. Here is the challenge of verse number seven. Number one, that we are the merciful, that we need to be the merciful. And. And number two, that we will receive mercy. Have there been times in your life where you were looking for mercy? You felt like you should get it from somebody and they didn't give it to you? Maybe you said sorry. Maybe you said, I'm sorry for doing this, and that person did not accept your apology. That's almost like a slap in the face, isn't it? Right? And so maybe you've been in a situation where you haven't received mercy when you thought you should. But here's what I want you to know. Good people can be merciless. Just because you have shown mercy once or twice doesn't make you merciful. Everybody with me. In some cases, believers can be just as harsh and unmerciful as non believers. But we as believers are the receivers of mercy multiple times throughout our day. And yet how quickly we forget to extend that mercy to those around us. As I finished up Galatians this past week and reminded about the opportunity to do good to those that are around us, to everyone around us, especially those in the family of faith, I want you to understand this. We are called to be people of mercy. Now, that doesn't mean you let everybody get away with stuff. No, but it is the desire that we should be lenient on those that around us, forgiving of those around us. One of the biggest, or maybe, maybe the prime example in scripture of mercy. You all know the story of the Good Samaritan, correct? You know, there was a man heading to Jericho, was robbed by the thieves. He was beaten half dead and left. The first person to get to him was the priest. What did the priest do? He passed on the other side, kept going. The priest passed on the other side. Then the Levite came and he looked on him. He saw him. He saw him in need. But he too kept going as well. And the Samaritan came to him, bandaged him up and took him to a room. Not only took him to a room, paid others to take care of him, paid the bill for the room for days ahead. That's mercy. That's a true display of mercy. And so when we think of verse number seven, and we are reminded, blessed are the merciful. We are called to be merciful to other people because God has given us his mercy. So point number one, tonight, when we think of the merciful living, it is a living that day in and day out, we see those around us that need the mercy that God has shown us and we show it to them. That's the first point. Look at verse number eight. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Now I want you to know, as I wrote these words, this message down, it's easy for me to rush to the second half of that one. Like, I want to see God, right? Do you want to see God? We do, don't we? We want to see God. And in order to see God, here's the promise from Jesus lips. The pure in heart will see him, no questions asked. So what we must look at tonight is in this sixth beatitude is what does it mean to have a pure heart? I think we, in order to have a pure heart, we must live out the prayer of David in Psalm 51. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. You can't have a pure heart on your own. God's got to do that work. And I know people that have had pure hearts, and maybe they haven't had the best of decisions, maybe they didn't make the best of decisions. And so guess what? You mess up. But with a pure heart, people understand that, understand your intentions. Have you ever had good intentions but jacked it all up? Yes, your pastor has. I've had the best of attentions and I've jacked it up. But here's what people said. We know you meant well. You had the right heart. And that's what they see. They didn't see the mistake. They didn't make that mistake a big deal. What they did is they say, we know the intentions were good. This isn't about me. That's just an example of me messing up. But when we understand the Lord doing that work and he has to clean our heart and from that pure heart, then we can minister to those that are around us. That's how we are able then to see God. Because the work he has done in our life from that place Then we live out our life day by day. That doesn't mean we're better than anyone. But what it means is God is at work through you. And praise God for his work through us. Here's what I believe. I believe the Bible teaches that every person will stand before God with one day. Every person. But here we are reminded those with a pure heart will stand in a different scenario. And so what we need to understand is that moment of judgment comes. Some will be eternally banished never to see him again. They will see him one time, and that is it. But for the child of God, you not only see him while you are alive, though we don't physically see him, we see him at work. You see him while you are here, you will stand face to face and you will see him for all eternity. And so here's the challenge of the pure in heart. The pure in heart will see God forever. Have you ever seen God? Some people will argue the Bible is contradictory here because in other places the Bible has said no man has ever seen God. But here it tells us that if you have a pure heart, you will see God. Well, I'm going to stand before you and say this. I've never seen God physically, but there's no doubt in my mind. I've seen God at work. I've seen God's hand at work over the past three years, especially over the past year. Personally, I have seen the hand of God at work. I know God is real and I know he's at work. But one day, those with a pure heart will see him. Not just one time, but they will see him for eternity. So tonight, as I think about this point, I want to remind us that we need to be people whose heart is set on God, whose heart is swept and kept by God. Create in me a clean heart. Let God do that work. And from that place that God does the work, we then minister and love in his name. Though you may not be able to put your eyes on Jesus physically now, you can see that he is at work. And one day you will see him face to face. That's what this beatitude promises. Look at verse number nine. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Point number three tonight is peaceful children. I don't know if I gave you point number two. It is a heart to see God was point number two. Number three is peaceful children. What is the opposite of peace? Trouble? War? All of the above? Absolutely. What do you see when you look at the world today? Chaos. How many of us see the worst. We see the war, we see the trouble, we see all of that. And yet here's what we are reminded as the church, as the people of God, we are called to be the peacemakers. We're not called to be the troublemakers. And so as a believer tonight, I'm going to start this point by saying this. How would. Or what would you. Or how would you see yourself as a believer? Would you see yourself as a peacemaker? I hope that's a happy kid. I believe to be true peacemakers, we have to desire peace in two directions. You must desire peace upward with the Lord. You must have peace there. But you almost. You have to desire peace outward as well. So to be a true peacemaker, you must first have made peace with God. And then, because God gives you that peace, then outward, you can make peace with those around you in turn. When we think about that peace that Christ brings in our lives, it's amazing. Even despite of the circumstances and despite what's going on in this world, I have a peace in my heart. I mean, I can read the news, I can go home and watch the news tonight, and I can just shake my head, but I can still lay my head on the pillow at night knowing God's got everything under control. And I want to tell you this. I'm going to tell my church family this. That's why I don't preach politics. There's some of you that want me to preach politics. I will not do it because I don't care who's there. All that stuff's gonna come and go. It's gonna change. But what doesn't change is Jesus Christ. He will never change. And so here's what I want you to know. No matter what's going on in the world around us, I know God's in control. I can't change what's going on in the world. But I know who can. And I trust his hand in every part of my life. Peacemakers are seen in the middle of the conflict. Are you ready? Church peacemakers show up in the middle of the conflict. Now, I don't want you to raise your hand on this. How many of you have to be the peacemakers between your children? How many of you have to be peacemakers between your co workers? How many of you have to be peacemakers between relatives? Can we say church members? We're called to be peacemakers. But remember a couple of things as we talk about us being peaceful children. Number one is this. Peacemaking doesn't favor a side when you're A peacemaker, and you're in the middle of conflict. You've got to be careful to minister to both sides. As a child of God, that's what we are to do. If you favor one, you will lose the other. Welcome to the pastoral ministry. How many times does that knock on the door change the day from a peaceful day to an eventful day? And now you're in the middle of the chaos. Here we go. You can't control that. God is using you. God is using me with that knock on the door. God is sovereign over that. God's in control of that. But when people come to you with that knock on the door, here's where we then, as peacemakers, enter the conflict. And as we enter that conflict, the first thing I want you to see that you cannot favor one side over the other. You've got to be there and minister to both. The second part that I want you to understand, too, is that you must remember the greatest enemy of conflict as a child of God is not the people around you. It is Satan himself. Where God wants to bring peace, Satan wants to bring calamity. So you've got to remember as you enter these conflicts, it's also a spiritual battle. Be ready. And the third thing that you've got to remember is sometimes being a peacemaker is hard. When you've been hurt or when you have been wronged, and when you find yourself not in the middle, but on one side or the other as a believer, don't you raise your hand as a believer, how many of you been hurt and wronged by good Christian people? How many of you have been hurt by church before? Yeah, we carry that. I carry church. Hurt that I ran from God and blamed God, and it wasn't even God, but I blamed you for it. As a peacemaker, as a believer, when you have been wronged, it's easy to turn the other cheek and walk away than to make peace with who hurt you. And if we center that down in the Christian family and even the church, it's easy to sit across the room from somebody and never talk to them again and claim to be a child of God. Hold on, hold on. Look here again with me. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. The children of God will make peace with God first and then with other people that are around them. When I read this verse, number nine, I love that word called for some reason, and my little brain just wrote down this question, who does the calling? Who calls them the children of God? I believe the Peacemakers will be noticed by people on this earth. But I also believe that you will be called a child of God by the Lord himself because you chose a higher road, a higher plane than one of conflict. You chose to be the peacemaker. If you know anything about Jeffrey now. I don't want to. This is not too. I hate conflict, right? I despise it. Even in my own family, growing up with my brothers, I never want. I was not a fighter, right? So I just avoid that at all cost. I don't like that. But that's not always the right thing to do either. True peacemakers seek and desire to be people of peace and forgiveness. And that's our challenge as we read this together. Make your peace with God and make your peace with those around Him. Keep that around you. There's one more as we finish up our study tonight. It comes from verses 10 through 12. Some people classify this as 2. I personally classify this as 1 because it talks about persecution. Look at verse number 10. It says this. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely. For my name's or for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. The fourth thing I want you to see tonight is the persecuted children. On one hand we talk about peace, and the other hand we talk about persecution. But there are three things we need to look at in this verse. We need to look at the cause of the persecution. We need to look at the conduct during persecution. And we need to look at the commendation for the persecuted. But what is the cause? What causes persecution in what Jesus is saying? Jesus said you're going to be persecuted for two reasons. The first reason is this. You are persecuted for righteousness sake. What is righteousness? It is living a life right before God, right with God. And here is the truth. When you identify yourself with God, you will face persecution from people. When you stamp your identity with the Lord, you can just go ahead and mark it down. It's coming your way one way or another. Now, we are fortunate to be in the United States of America right now. Maybe our lives are not on the line. Maybe they are in some places. But if you go to a foreign country and you identify with Jesus in some of those countries, you will be killed. So when we identify with the Lord, the world doesn't want that connection to God. So the cause of persecution could be for righteousness sake. When you identify yourself with the Lord. But also Jesus says at the end of verse number 11, he says this for my sake. Do you see that? When we identify with Jesus, it's one thing to mention God. I'm walking with God. The world sees that as you're doing a good thing, you're doing a moral thing. But when you say, I'm walking with Jesus, that's a whole different story. You will have people turn on you. And so when we think about for Jesus sake, that target gets a little bit bigger. When you surrender to Jesus, here's what I want you to know. You're not going to have it made. Did anybody have in their mind, when I give my life to Jesus, I got it made. Maybe some of our younger people do like I give my life to Jesus, they're so excited. And then when they get up and get older and understand, like, the world doesn't like this. Here's what Jesus says in this verse, in verse number 11, that people are going to insult you and mock you. You're going to be persecuted. Your reputation may be smeared and slandered, all because you belong to Jesus. For my sake, for Jesus sake. The words will harm you, evil will lie, and evil will twist it around and persecution will pursue you. That's the cause. All because of Jesus. But what do you do when that happens? Some of us say we'll just get our righteous anger and we'll fight back. Remember, peacemakers, right? What is our conduct? Do you fight back? Do you stay quiet? Here's what this scripture tells us. Look at verse number 12. Five simple words. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. That's your response. So, Pastor Jeffrey, what you're telling me is this. When people persecute me, when the evil comes against me, when they slander my name, when they mock me, I'm just supposed to say, yippee ki yi, yay. I'm glad to be a servant of Jesus. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. Here's what you are to do. Conduct yourself and continue to honor the Lord. In your response, don't quit, don't retaliate. Because Jesus says, vengeance belongs to the Lord. Vengeance is mine. Thus saith Lord. The focus is on the promise of God. And so we understand that in these words he warns us, you're going to be persecuted. We should expect it. So how do we retaliate? How do we conduct ourselves? We don't retaliate. We conduct ourselves in a way that responds in gentleness and Jesus. So what's the commendation? Why should I do this? Look at the end of verse number 12. For great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Here's what Jesus says. People long before you have been persecuted for my sake. Right? If you look back in church history, how many of you realize people had it a lot worse than we do? How many of you know today people have it a lot worse in other countries than we do? Amen. We understand. And here's what Jesus says. They persecuted the prophets which were before you. People long before you were persecuted because they believed in me. But there will be a reward, and it's called the Kingdom of Heaven. As I close tonight, here's what I want you to know. You may try to fix people or fight problems or flee persecution while you live for Jesus on this earth. But remember, your reward is not an earthly reward. There's not a trophy down here waiting for you. There's not somebody ready to pat you on the back yet down here saying, great job for being a Christian today, for your life. No. Your reward is where? Heaven. Your reward is in heaven. And it will be received when you see Jesus face to face. So we must seek the things of God. We must fix our eyes on Jesus. And the reward is this, an eternity with him. Tonight, if I just real quickly go back and just read the blessings, the second half of these verses. The merciful will obtain mercy. The pure in heart will see God. The peacemakers shall be called the children of God. And those that are persecuted, theirs is the kingdom Heaven. I don't know about you, but those are things that I desire. And I will not get them as long as Jeffrey is alive on this earth. But if I live like Jesus, if my conduct is Christlike, then one day the promise is this. They will be yours. Don't. Don't focus so much on the promise, on the place of heaven that we miss how the people of God should live while we're here. I get excited about what I may get one day, but I know that I have a lot of work to do. Showing mercy, being a peacemaker when the persecution comes, knowing that Jesus has it all under control. The mercy, pure in heart, peacemaking, persecution. Listen to this as I close. Three of these are how you deal with others. And one of them is how the world will deal with you. What a challenge. What a challenge if we are the blessed, what our lives should be like. Let's pray together. Father. God. Lord, thank you for this night, Lord. I thank you for an opportunity, Lord, now just to come before you in thanksgiving for the reminder of our conduct and our character. If we belong to you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, just for the challenge to share mercy and to be peacemakers. Thank you for the challenge, Lord, in which you call us, Lord, and remind us that we will face persecution, Lord. I pray, Lord, that you will give us those pure hearts, Lord. We thank you, Lord, for the work in our lives, Lord, but we know that work is not done. And so tonight, Lord, with this reminder through your scripture, God, we pray that you will continue to work on your people, Lord, that you will move us in the direction of mercy and peace and pureness of heart. And God, we understand that the world may not treat us like we think we are going to be treated. But as the world comes at us, Lord, that you will give us that reminder that this world is not our home. Ours is the kingdom of heaven. So tonight, thank you for your word. Thank you for these reminders. Thank you that we gather as your people. Thank you, Lord, that we seek your will for our lives, God. Thank you for meeting us in this place and reminding us whose we are and how we should live in this world, Lord, tonight in a very special way, God, I pray that you sinner your reminder on Clifford Baptist Church and the people that are here tonight, God, I pray, Lord, tonight through this word that you will convict and you will change us and you will continue to use us for your glory, God. Thank you Lord, for what you're going to do. And we trust you to do it in Jesus name. Amen. [00:33:33] Speaker A: You've been listening to Truth for the Journey from Clifford Baptist Church. You're always welcome to visit Clifford Baptist Church for Sunday School at 9:45, worship at 11:00am and Wednesday evening worship at 7:00pm Join us again next Sunday for or Truth for the Journey.